Foreign Economic Espionage in Cyberspace

by the National Counterintelligence and Security Center

Contents

• Executive Summary • 1
• Scope Note • 2
• I. The Strategic Threat of Cyber Economic Espionage • 4
• II. Threats from Foreign Countries • 5
  • China: Persistent Cyber Activities • 5
  • Russia: A Sophisticated Adversary • 8
  • Iran: An Increasing Cyber Threat • 9
  • Targeted Technologies • 11
• III. Emerging Threats • 12
  • Software Supply Chain Operations • 13
  • Foreign Laws Could Enable Intellectual Property Theft • 13
  • Foreign Technology Companies With Links to Host Governments • 14
• Annex – Decreasing the Prevalence of Economic or Industrial Espionage in Cyberspace • 15